Star treatment

Historic Star of India on three-week hiatus for maintenance

The 146-year-old Star of India, guided by tugboats yesterday, was moved from its familiar mooring along North Harbor Drive to dry dock in the South Bay for maintenance. James W. Davis, the first mate, climbed aboard before the short journey. (John Gibbins / Union-Tribune)

The 146-year-old Star of India, guided by tugboats yesterday, was moved from its familiar mooring along North Harbor Drive to dry dock in the South Bay for maintenance. James W. Davis, the first mate, climbed aboard before the short journey. (John Gibbins / Union-Tribune)

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The Star of India is scheduled to spend three weeks at BAE Systems' dry dock in the South Bay for cleaning, repainting and coating of its iron hull.
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&#8201; John Gibbins / Union-Tribune
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— John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune

The Star of India is scheduled to spend three weeks at BAE Systems' dry dock in the South Bay for cleaning, repainting and coating of its iron hull.
John Gibbins / Union-Tribune
— John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune

<p>
The 146-year-old Star of India, guided by tugboats yesterday, was moved from its familiar mooring along North Harbor Drive to dry dock in the South Bay for maintenance. James W. Davis, the first mate, climbed aboard before the short journey.
<em>
&#8201; John Gibbins / Union-Tribune photos
</em>
</p>
— John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune

The 146-year-old Star of India, guided by tugboats yesterday, was moved from its familiar mooring along North Harbor Drive to dry dock in the South Bay for maintenance. James W. Davis, the first mate, climbed aboard before the short journey.
John Gibbins / Union-Tribune photos
— John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego's waterfront icon, the Star of India, headed off yesterday to the maritime equivalent of a resort spa — three weeks at a dry dock for a little sanding and buffing.

Cranes will hoist the ship out of the water. Crews will use hydro-jets and maybe sandblasting to clean its distinctive iron hull. The hull will be repainted, and its red stripe — now a shade of orange — will be red again. The hull then will get a modern ceramic coating.

San Diego Maritime Museum officials estimate the project will cost about $225,000, but they won't know for sure until crews have a better look at what's been going on below the waterline.

They hope to have the ship back at its familiar spot along North Harbor Drive by Labor Day. Until then, its absence will be noticed; passers-by are already doing double-takes and saying, “Isn't that where . . . ?”

This is the fourth time the 205-foot-long ship has been in dry dock since the 1970s and the first time the hull will be coated with ceramic, said James W. Davis, the ship's first mate.

The epoxy coating should offer better protection from the corrosive effects of salt water, Davis said. “The hull is the reason she's still with us today. We want to keep her here for many, many more years.”

If the ship could talk — and there are people who will tell you it can — it might have wondered aloud yesterday about all the fuss.

What's another short trip into dry dock when you've survived a mutiny, a cyclone and 146 years of the elements?

But locals and out-of-towners adore this throwback to the Age of Sail, so a fuss it was. Dozens of museum members, directors and ship lovers awoke before dawn and made their way to the Embarcadero to board a flotilla accompanying the Star of India on its journey.

Others waved from shore as three tugs pushed and pulled the ship past the USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village and the San Diego Convention Center, under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and into the BAE Systems dry dock.

The trip was a curious mix of old and new: a ship launched during the Civil War, five days before President Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, arriving for an overhaul during the Iraq war at a facility screened by the Department of Homeland Security.